This is a list of bodies that regulate standard languages, often called language academies. Language academies are motivated by, or closely associated with, linguistic purism and prestige, and typically publish prescriptive dictionaries,^[1] which purport to officiate and prescribe the meaning of words and pronunciations. A language regulator may also have a more descriptive approach, however, while maintaining and promoting (but not imposing) a standard spelling. Many language academies are private institutions, although some are governmental bodies in different states, or enjoy some form of government-sanctioned status in one or more countries. There may also be multiple language academies attempting to regulate and codify the same language, sometimes based in different countries and sometimes influenced by political factors (see also: pluricentric language).

Many world languages have one or more language academies. However, the degree of control that the academies exert over these languages does not render the latter controlled natural languages in the sense that the various kinds of "simple English" (e.g. Basic English, Simplified Technical English) or George Orwell's fictional Newspeak are. They instead remain natural languages to a considerable extent and are thus not formal languages such as Attempto Controlled English. They have a degree of standardization that allows them to function as standard languages (e.g. standard French). The English language has never had a formal regulator anywhere, outside of private productions such as the Oxford Dictionary.

Natural languages

Language	Territory	Regulator(s)
Amis	Republic of China	Council of Indigenous Peoples
Afrikaans	South Africa  Namibia	Die Taalkommissie
Akan	Ghana	Akan Orthography Committee (AOC)
Albanian	Albania  Kosovo	Academy of Sciences of Albania, Tirana
Arabic
	Arab League	Academy of the Arabic Language (? ?) Arabic Language International Council
	Algeria	Supreme Council of the Arabic language in Algeria
	Egypt	Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo
	Iraq	Iraqi Academy of Sciences
	Jordan	Jordan Academy of Arabic
	Libya	Academy of the Arabic Language in Jamahiriya
	Morocco	Academy of the Arabic Language in Morocco
	Saudi Arabia	Academy of the Arabic Language in Riyadh
	Somalia	Academy of the Arabic Language in Mogadishu
	Sudan	Academy of the Arabic Language in Khartum
	Syria	Academy of the Arabic Language in Damascus
	Tunisia	Beit Al-Hikma Foundation
	Israel  Palestine	Academy of the Arabic Language in Israel (? ?)
Aragonese	Aragon	Academia de l'Aragonés, Aragon, Spain
Armenian	Armenia	Armenian National Academy of Sciences ()
Assamese	Assam	Asam Sahitya Sabha ( ? )
Asturian	Asturias	Academy of the Asturian Language (Academia de la Llingua Asturiana)
Azerbaijani	Azerbaijan  Iran	Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Basque	Basque Country Navarre French Basque Country	Euskaltzaindia, often translated as Royal Academy of the Basque language
Belarusian	Belarus	The Jakub Kolas and Janka Kupala Institute of Language and Literature[2] at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
Bengali (Bangla)	Bangladesh	Bangla Academy ( ?)
	West Bengal	Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (? ?)
Berber	Morocco	Royal Institute of Amazight Culture
	Algeria	Haut-Conseil à l'amazighité
		Algerian Academy of Amazigh Language
Central Bikol	Philippines	Academia Bicolana defunct
Bosnian	Bosnia and Herzegovina Sand?ak	University of Sarajevo
Bulgarian	Bulgaria	Institute for Bulgarian Language at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Burmese	Myanmar	Myanmar Language Commission
Catalan	Catalonia	Institute of Catalan Studies (Institut d'Estudis Catalans)
	Valencian Community	Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (for the Valencian standard)
Cebuano	Philippines	Visayan Academy of Arts and Letters (Akademyang Bisaya)
Cherokee	Cherokee Nation	Council of the Cherokee Nation (? )[3]
Standard Chinese	China	State Language Work Committee ()
	Republic of China	National Languages Committee (?)
	Singapore	Promote Mandarin Council ()
	Malaysia	Chinese Language Standardisation Council of Malaysia ()
Cornish	Cornwall	Cornish Language Partnership (Keskowethyans an Taves Kernewek)
Croatian	Croatia	Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics (Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje)
	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Czech	Czech Republic	Institute of the Czech Language (of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) (Ústav pro jazyk ?eský (Akademie v?d ?eské republiky))
Danish	Denmark	Dansk Sprognævn (Danish Language Council)
Dalecarlian	Dalarna County	Ulum Dalska
Divehi	Maldives	Dhivehi Academy
Dutch	Netherlands  Belgium  Suriname	Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union)
Dzongkha	Bhutan	Dzongkha Development Commission ()
English		None official, but the Oxford English Dictionary is the principal historical dictionary of the English language.
Estonian	Estonia	Emakeele Seltsi keeletoimkond (Language Board at the Mother Tongue Society) sets rules and standards, authoritative advice is given by the Institute of the Estonian Language (Eesti Keele Instituut)
Faroese	Faroe Islands	Faroese Language Council (Málráðið)
Filipino	Philippines	Commission on the Filipino Language (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)
Finnish	Finland	Institute for the Languages of Finland
French	France	Académie française (French Academy)
	Belgium	Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique (Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium)
	Quebec	Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Office of the French Language)
Galician	Galicia	Royal Galician Academy (Real Academia Galega)
German	Germany  Austria   Switzerland  South Tyrol  Belgium  Liechtenstein  Namibia	Council for German Orthography (Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung)
Greenlandic	Greenland	The Greenland Language Secretariat (Oqaasileriffik)
Greek	Greece  Cyprus	Center for the Greek Language (? ?)
Guarani	Paraguay	Guarani Language Academy (Guarani Ñe' ? Rerekuapav?)
Gujarati	India	Gujarat Sahitya Akademi regulatory body established by the Government of Gujarat and Gujarati Sahitya Parishad
Hakka	Republic of China	Hakka Affairs Council ()
Haitian Creole	Haiti	Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole Academy)
Hebrew	Israel	Academy of the Hebrew Language (? )
Hindi	India	Central Hindi Directorate (regulates use of Devanagari script and Hindi spelling in India)
Tulu	India	Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy regulatory body for Tulu established by Government of Karnataka & Kerala Tulu Academy by Government of Kerala
Hmar	India	Hmar Literature Society (Manipur, India)[]
Hungarian	Hungary	Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Nyelvtudományi Intézete)
Icelandic	Iceland	Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
Igbo	Nigeria	Society for Promoting Igbo Language and Culture
Indonesian	Indonesia	Language and Book Development Agency (Badan Pengembangan Bahasa dan Perbukuan)
Irish	Ireland  Northern Ireland	Foras na Gaeilge
Italian	Italy  San Marino   Switzerland   Vatican City	Accademia della Crusca (Academy of the bran)
Japanese	Japan	National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (?)
Kannada	Karnataka	Various academies and Government of Karnataka
Kashubian	Poland	Commission of the Kashubian Language [1]
Kazakh	Kazakhstan	Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan
Khmer	Cambodia	Royal Academy of Cambodia ()
Korean	South Korea	National Institute of the Korean Language (/)
	North Korea	The Language Research Institute, Academy of Social Science ( )
	China	China Korean Language Regulatory Commission (?/?)
Kven	Norway	Kainun institutti - kvensk institutt
Kurdish	Kurdistan	Kurdish Academy - ?
Kyrgyz	Kyrgyzstan	National Committee for State Language under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic ( ? )
Latin	Holy See	Pontifical Academy for Latin (Pontificia Academia Latinitatis) (ecclesiastical Latin)[4]
		International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy: botanical Latin)
		International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature: zoological Latin)
Latvian	Latvia	Latvian State Language Center (Valsts Valodas Centrs)
Lithuanian	Lithuania	Commission of the Lithuanian Language (Valstybin? lietuvi? kalbos komisija)
Lusoga	Uganda	Lusoga Language Authority (LULA)
Luxembourgish	Luxembourg	Council for the Luxembourgish Language (Conseil fir d'Letzebuerger Sprooch)
Macedonian	North Macedonia	Linguistics and Literary Science Department at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Malagasy	Madagascar	Foibe momba ny teny at the Akademia Malagasy (http://www.tenymalagasy.gov.mg/)
Malay	Malaysia	Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (The Institute of Language and Literature)
	Brunei	Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei (Language and Literature Bureau)
	Singapore	Majlis Bahasa Melayu Singapura (Malay Language Council, Singapore)
Maltese	Malta	National Council for the Maltese Language (www.kunsilltalmalti.gov.mt)
Manx	Isle of Man	Coonceil ny Gaelgey
M?ori	New Zealand	M?ori Language Commission
Mirandese	Portugal	Anstituto de la Lhéngua Mirandesa (Institute of the Mirandese Language)
Mixtec	Mexico	Academy of the Mixtec Language (Ve'e Tu'un Sávi)
Khalkha Mongolian	Mongolia	Council of the official state language ( ). Decisions have to be confirmed by the Mongolian government.[5]
Chakhar Mongolian	China	Council for Language and Literature Work
Nepali	Nepal	Language Academy of Nepal
Norwegian (Riksmål/Bokmål)	Norway	Norwegian Academy
Norwegian Bokmål Norwegian Nynorsk		Norwegian Language Council
Occitan	Occitania  France  Spain  Monaco  Italy	Lo Congrès Permanent de la lenga occitana (the permanent congress of occitan language)[6] Institut d'Estudis Aranesi (Aranese)[7] Conselh de la Lenga Occitana
Odia	India	Odisha Sahitya Akademi
Pashto	Afghanistan	Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
	Pakistan	Pashto Academy
Persian	Iran	Academy of Persian Language and Literature ( ? ? )
	Afghanistan	Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
	Tajikistan  Uzbekistan	Rudaki Institute of Language and Literature
Paiwan	Republic of China	Council of Indigenous Peoples
Polish	Poland	Polish Language Council (Rada J?zyka Polskiego), of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Portuguese	Portugal	Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Classe de Letras
	Brazil	Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Literary Academy)
	Galicia	Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language (Academia Galega da Lingua Portuguesa)
Quechua	Peru	High Academy of the Quechua Language (Qheswa simi hamut'ana kuraq suntur)
Rohingya	Arakan (Rakhine State)	Rohingya Language Academy ( )
Romanian	Romania	Institutul de Lingvistic? al Academiei Române (Institute for Linguistics of the Romanian Academy)
	Moldova	Academia de ?tiin?e a Moldovei
Romansh	Switzerland	Lia Rumantscha
Russian	Russian Empire	Russian Academy (1783-1841)
	Russia	Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (since 1944)
Scots	Scotland	The Scots Language Centre supports the Scots language.[8]Scottish Language Dictionaries record and analyse the language as it is spoken and written throughout Scotland and Ulster today.[9]
Secwepemctsín	Canada	Secwepemc Cultural Education Society
Serbian and Montenegrin	Serbia  Montenegro	Board for Standardization of the Serbian Language
Sindhi	Pakistan	Sindhi Language Authority [2]
Sinhala	Sri Lanka	Hela Havula ( ?)
Slovak	Slovakia	?udovít ?túr Institute of Linguistics (Jazykovedný ústav ?udovíta ?túra) at Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovenská akadémia vied)
Slovene	Slovenia	Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Somali	Djibouti  Ethiopia  Somalia	Regional Somali Language Academy
Sorbian	Germany  Czech Republic  Poland	Serbski institut [3]
Spanish	Spain  Colombia  Ecuador  Mexico  El Salvador  Venezuela  Chile  Peru  Guatemala  Costa Rica  Philippines  Panama  Cuba  Paraguay  Bolivia  Dominican Republic  Nicaragua  Argentina  Uruguay  Honduras  Puerto Rico  United States  Equatorial Guinea  Israel	Association of Spanish Language Academies (constituted by the Royal Spanish Academy plus 23 other separate national academies in the Spanish-speaking world and an Israel-based committee for Judaeo-Spanish.)
Swahili	Tanzania	Baraza la Kiswahili la Taifa
	Kenya	Chama cha Kiswahili cha Taifa
Swedish	Sweden	Swedish Language Council (semi-official) Swedish Academy
	Finland	Swedish Language Department of the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland (Svenska språkbyrån)
Tamil	Tamil Nadu	Thanjavur Tamil University and Official Language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu
	Sri Lanka	Department of Official Languages, Sri Lanka
	Singapore	Tamil Language Council, Singapore
	Malaysia	Malaysia Tamil Language Standardisation Council ( )
Taiwanese Hokkien	Republic of China	Ministry of Education (Taiwan)
Tatar	Tatarstan	Institute of Language, Literature and Arts of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan [4]
Telugu	Andhra Pradesh and Telangana	Telugu Academy and Official Language Commission of Government of Andhra Pradesh
Tetum	East Timor	National Institute of Linguistics at the National University of East Timor
Thai	Thailand	Royal Society of Thailand (?)
Tibetan	Tibet Autonomous Region	Committee for Tibetan Language Affairs [5]
	India	Committee for the Standardisation of the Tibetan Language
Turkish	Turkey  Cyprus  Northern Cyprus	Turkish Language Association
Ukrainian	Ukraine	NASU Institute of Ukrainian Language
Urdu	Pakistan	National Language Authority, Pakistan
	India	National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, India
Urhobo	Nigeria	Urhobo Studies Association
Vietnamese	Vietnam	Institute of Linguistics of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
Võro	Estonia	Võro Institute
Waray	Philippines	Sanghiran san Binisaya ha Samar ug Leyte (Academy of the Visayan Language of Samar and Leyte) defunct
Welsh	Wales	Welsh Language Commissioner (Aled Roberts) -- The Welsh Government (previously the Welsh Language Board Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg) (Principally, however, the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner is that of language planning and policy regulator and enforcer. The role also includes corpus planning.)
West Frisian	Friesland	Fryske Akademy (Frisian Academy)
Wolof	Senegal	Centre de linguistique appliquée de Dakar (Center of Applied Linguistics of Dakar at the Cheikh Anta Diop University)
Yiddish	United States  Sweden  Russia	YIVO[10] (Note that YIVO does not regulate or hold any sway over the Yiddish used in Ultra-Orthodox circles where the Yiddish language is most used in current times. The orthography and pronunciation of Yiddish in the Ultra-Orthodox communities is dramatically different from the standardized version of Yiddish devised by YIVO. A prime example of this is the spelling of the name for the Yiddish language in Yiddish itself. YIVO promotes the spelling "", while the spelling "" is more commonly used in most Ultra-Orthodox contexts.)
Yoruba	Nigeria	Yoruba Academy

Auxiliary languages

Esperanto

Apart from the Akademio de Esperanto, most auxiliary languages, also known as constructed languages (Conlangs) have no true linguistic regulators, language academies.^[11]

Esperanto and Ido have been constructed (or planned) by a person or small group, before being adopted and further developed by communities of users through natural language evolution.

Bodies such as the Akademio de Esperanto look at questions of usage in the light of the original goals and principles of the language.

Other constructed languages

Interlingua

The auxiliary language Interlingua has no regulating body, as its vocabulary, grammar, and orthography are viewed as a product of ongoing social forces. In theory, Interlingua therefore evolves independent from any human regulator. Interlingua's vocabulary is verified and recorded by dynamically applying certain general principles to an existing set of natural languages and their etymologies. The International Auxiliary Language Association ceased to exist in 1954, and according to the secretary of Union Mundial de Interlingua "Interlingua doesn't need its Academy".^[11]

Other bodies

These bodies do not attempt to regulate any language in a prescriptive manner and are primarily concerned with aiding and advising the government on policies regarding language usage.

•  Hong Kong: Official Language Division Civil Service Bureau Government of Hong Kong - concerned with matters concerning government language policy
•  Macau: Departamento dos Assuntos Linguísticos of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau of the Government of Macau -concerned with matters concerning government language policy

See also

• Proposals for an English Academy
• Language policy
• Language revival
• Language planning
• Linguistic purism
• Languages in censuses

References